eBay heads up - AXL Medway Special

DarnWeight

Not tried/used/owned one of these, just passing it on...

AXL Medway Special, £200, just the 2 of them

...MusicRadar liked them enough (review), and seems a good price for a 18W 1x12 combo with FX loop and spring reverb.  Think these are identical to the VHT Classic 18, just different livery.  I've spotted one on my local gumtree, so might give that one a look in the flesh.

ICBM

They're very good. The speaker is a genuine Gelestion G12M-25 Greenback too, in case anyone had doubts at that price! Probably at least partly why they sound good, although it's not actually hard to make a valve amp like that which does.

ecc83

I suppose they ARE 230volts?

Dave.

ICBM

ecc83 said:

I suppose they ARE 230volts?

Yes. Legitimate UK imports through Westside Distribution.

ecc83

ICBM said:

ecc83 said:

I suppose they ARE 230volts?

Yes. Legitimate UK imports through Westside Distribution.

Oh! Cynical moir!

Dave.

ICBM

ecc83 said:

Oh! Cynical moir!

I don't blame you . Especially given where they obviously come from...

They do appear to be properly certified - although I assume you know about the 'remarkable' similarity between the "China Export" (CE) logo and the "Conformité Européenne" (CE) logo!

I'm pretty sure they're made in the same factory as some of the recent Sound City and Hiwatt offerings, and possibly Ashdown. This doesn't bode very well for reliability, I know - the AXLs don't seem too bad though, especially not for £200 with a premium speaker. They were never worth £600 even given that.

Dave_Mc

ICBM said:

ecc83 said:

Oh! Cynical moir!

I don't blame you . Especially given where they obviously come from...

They do appear to be properly certified - although I assume you know about the 'remarkable' similarity between the "China Export" (CE) logo and the "Conformité Européenne" (CE) logo!

I'm pretty sure they're made in the same factory as some of the recent Sound City and Hiwatt offerings, and possibly Ashdown. This doesn't bode very well for reliability, I know - the AXLs don't seem too bad though, especially not for £200 with a premium speaker. They were never worth £600 even given that.

Go on, dish the dirt (assuming you can without getting into trouble)

ICBM

Dave_Mc said:

Go on, dish the dirt (assuming you can without getting into trouble)

There's not much I know of. Westside took a lot and they didn't sell - not surprising given the no-name to actively-bad-name brand, the high price for what they were (even with a good speaker and ply cab), and possibly the colour. So they cleared them out at get-rid-of-it prices.

Dave_Mc

Ah ok, thanks. I thought maybe there was something more sinister to it. ) I don't need an 18 watt-type amp, but for that price it sounds like a reasonable deal (if the reliability isn't suspect, as you said it might be) considering it's ply and has a decent speaker.

DarnWeight

Being as these are basically rebadged "modern" VHTs, I just had another thought.  Would these be wired on a turret/eyelet board a la the Special 6 or Standard 18 models?  I can find gutshots of both those, but none of the Medway/Classic 18...so my gut reaction is "no".

Dave_Mc

I'd have assumed "no" as well. I think some of the "modern" VHTs are PCB, and I'm guessing this is one of them.